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Economics

May-June 2016

Is welfare sexist?

Some provincial governments will cut off social and disability assistance if a woman’s partner makes too much money—a 1950s era policy that curbs independence, reinforces the marry-rich cliché, and can even put women in danger

Amanda Van Slyke

Independence has never come easy for me—but it’s always been vital. I was born premature in 1989 with undiagnosed dyspraxia, a neurological disorder that permanently affects memory, coordination, and processing speed. Because my development was delayed and I was held back in kindergarten, I heavily relied on my classmates throughout school. I nodded my head […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: balanced budget

Deconstructing the myth of the balanced budget

Nathaniel Basen

THERE IS NO REASON for the federal budget to be balanced at any particular time, argues Jim Stanford, an economist at Unifor and author of Economics for Everyone. The cartwheels necessary to balance Canada’s federal budget, he maintains, actually ensure slower growth and smaller future surpluses. It could, in short, harm the economy—not boost it. […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: The North

We ask: Does Stephen Harper's professed love for Canada's North runs any deeper than his annual photo op tour?

Rhiannon Russell

THERE ISN’T MUCH OF A GROWING SEASON in Old Crow, the Yukon’s northernmost community. Yet a vegetable garden has flourished there for the past three years, thanks to the efforts of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and funding, in part, from the territorial government. In June, residents planted cauliflower, garlic, kale, cabbage, onions, potatoes, lettuce, […] More »
November-December 2014

Tear the house down

Josh Hawley

A call for co-operative housing reform After spending the first 23 years of my life living in co-operative housing, I worry “co-operative” has become nothing more than a platitude used to paint a picture of true democracy. Even at the most local of levels, a functioning democracy needs supervision. Over a quarter of a million […] More »
September-October 2014

Third Annual Corporate Hall of Shame

This Magazine Staff

For the past three years, This Magazine has waded deep into the bad deeds of our country’s corporations. Each time, we scour hundreds of public records, court cases, company filings, and media reports to find our country’s most shameful corporate citizens. For 2013-2014, we found more than enough to enrage us. The now (unfortunately) familiar […] More »
May-June 2014

Our home and golden land

Andrew Reeves

Inside the First Nations’ fight for a piece of north Ontario’s $60 billion mega mines Deep in Ontario’s north sits the Ring of Fire, an as-yet undeveloped cluster of mineral claims worth an estimated $60 billion—but only if you’re being conservative. Some industry experts, including James Franklin, former chief geologist with the Geological Survey of […] More »

Throwback Thursday: “The Conversion of Doom”

Simon Treanor

The current turmoil in Ukraine has sparked fears of a “Second Cold War.” But where are these fears coming from, and what do they mean today? For this edition’s Throwback Thursday we revisit “The Conversion of Doom” by Stephen Dale from our 1990 October/November issue. In it, Dale looks at the post Cold War era’s […] More »

WTF Wednesday: Rob Ford, again

Simon Treanor

It’s awkward enough having someone arrive uninvited to a party, but when that uninvited guest turns out to be the Mayor of Toronto, well… It seems that on Monday evening Rob Ford caused yet another social faux pas (among his previous ones: getting very drunk in public, loud racial insults, and smoking crack). Ford arrived […] More »

WTF Wednesday: free trade celebrated as prosperity reigns!

Joe Thomson

On November 21st the Macdonald-Laurier Institute will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Free Trade with a “gala” dinner that promises to be a “remarkable evening”. It’s being billed as a can’t-miss event, presumably attended by autocratic millionaires who will be outfitting themselves with new monocles and pocket watch fobs for the evening. I imagine most […] More »

WTF Wednesday: I Spy, with My Five Eyes, Brazil’s Oil and Gas

Vincent Colistro

The Five Eyes! The Communications Security Establishment of Canada (CSEC)! The Olympia spying program! The Advanced Network Tradecraft! These seem like names lifted from espionage paperbacks, the kind with shiny embossed covers bearing some hyper-masculine pen name like Dick Richter. But, sadly, they aren’t the stuff of fiction. Slides were leaked last week that implicate […] More »

Clusterf*ck

Catherine McIntyre

In New Brunswick, cancer clusters. One unlucky town has ovarian cancer rates 200 percent higher than the national average. In another region, you’re more likely to get brain cancer. Each cluster has one thing in common: heavy industry. Inside the radical fight to kill the economy and save lives With a small plastic tote in […] More »